"Lance
Armstrong risks losing a lot more than he thinks - and not only his seven Tour
de France victories. ... Financially, he risks quickly finding himself out on
the street. Because they are going to ask him for all the money he received
from his Tour victories, and surely from the other races. He is going to have
to repay almost all of the winnings he took in during his entire career."

-- Professor and French
anti-doping specialist Jean-Pierre de Mondenard

“It’s his choice, his position, but Lance Armstrong risks
losing a lot more than he thinks - and not only his seven Tour de France
victories.” Professor and French anti-doping specialist Jean-Pierre de Mondenard, interviewed by cyclisme.actu.fr, knows that the
choice of the seven-time winner of the Tour de France is a risky one. By
deciding not to contest charges made by the USADA (the United States Anti-Doping Agency),
which intends to strip him of his titles from the Grande Boucle and ban him
from sport competitions for life, Lance Armstrong could lose a great sum of
money.

In fact, the American cyclist will have to repay all monies received
for his victories in the Tour (€2.5
million or $3.2 million) and also bonuses (€8,000 for every stage won and €350 for every day he
wore the yellow jersey, plus bonuses for the mountain passes [included in the
Tour].

“Financially, he risks quickly finding himself out on the
street. Because they are going to ask him for all the money he received from his
Tour victories, and surely from the other races. He is going to have to repay
almost all of the winnings he took in during his entire career. And don’t
forget about the insurance policies and the astronomical sums of money paid to
him every time he won the Tour de France. He's going to have to repay all this
too, because I don't believe the insurance companies will leave him alone,”
predicts Professor de Mondenard. And it wasn't only Lance Armstrong that received these earnings, because the tradition in cycling is that
the winner shares his earnings with all members of his team.

The repayment of
sponsorships

With this revocation, those identified as the new winners of
the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005 will hit the jackpot. “Logically, they
will receive the winning sums, but the problem is figuring out who the winner
is now!,” jokes Emmanuel Potiron, journalist at
cyclisme.actu.fr. The UCI, the International Cyclist Union, should be
reimbursed by the American champion. This money will go toward the fight
against doping.

But the financial burdens for Lance Armstrong don’t stop
there. He may also have to repay some of the money he earned from endorsement
deals. “In more and more contracts that bind an enterprise with athletes, there
are clauses about doping. If the contract is terminated, the brand could
request indemnities and interest for the damage the brand suffered. If the
contract remains valid, the enterprise can call for its termination or demand
penalties. The sums to be repaid vary, but could amount to as much as the value
of the entire contract,” details Jean-Jacques Bertrand, a Paris lawyer specializing
in sports.

Such proceedings could be costly to Lance Armstrong - who
was one of the most sought-after athletes for sponsors, as he embodied the
image of the courageous sportsman capable of defeating cancer. According to American
Fox Sports Radio, his income in 2010
(the last year before he retirement from cycling) reached $20 million, $16.5
million of which came from contracts with Coca Cola, Nike, Subaru, Trek,
Oakley, Anheuser-Bush, etc. According to the Sunday Times, he would have amassed a fortune of €100 million [$125
million] during his career. Today, 11 enterprises still sponsor the Lance
Armstrong Foundation and its fight against cancer.